When a new face becomes prominent in the sports world, media criers become fascinated by the “inside” story and hunt for the hidden gems of his or her life and career.
Ryan Fox, now New Zealand’s favorite son, is a regular guy who flies coach, dresses like he shops at Goodwill, and drinks a lot of beer. And when he’s not making birdies on the golf course, his next-mostfavorite thing to do is hop aboard a boat and cast for snapper and kingfish with the same commitment he has with a golf club in his hands.
He also holds an annual charity outing at Waihi Beach, 96 miles east of Auckland on the North Island. It lasts three days, and Ryan is as serious about fishing as he is golf.
If you know his background, as does Athens’ Kiwi expat Warren Goodstone, you understand why Fox was a late bloomer in the golf world. His father, Grant, is one of the best rugby players in history of the sport, scoring over a thousand points for the New Zealand All Blacks. He was a member of the team that won the inaugural Rugby World Cup.
It was a “like father, like son” scenario in the beginning of Ryan’s career. He, too, was keen on rugby, and while successful, his career never reached the level of his famous father, who is now a television commentator.
With Ryan’s Open win last week at Royal Birkdale, Southport, England, the sobriquets are now reversed. For the longest while, Ryan was known as Grant Fox’s son – now he’ll be labeled as Ryan Fox’s dad.
Goodstone, who married Athens native Whitney Winburn, returns home as often as possible and is very familiar with Ryan’s charity golf and fishing outings, since he and his family frequented Waihi Beach when the new Open champion was growing up.
“My cousin, Grant Hooker,” Goodstone says, “has a beach house at Waihi Beach and is a member of the volunteer coastguard, one of the sponsors of Fox’s annual tournament, and spends a lot of time with Ryan.
“Ryan is known for being down to earth and unpretentious, having boyish fun while raising money for charity. He is the antithesis of his father, who was a very slow and deliberate rugby icon, while Ryan hits the ball and bolts down the fairway as if he’s running late for supper.”
Warren notes that New Zealand has more Open champions per capita than any place in the world: Bob Charles won the British title in 1963 at Royal Lytham and St. Annes, Michael Campbell won the U.S. Open in 2005, and Lydia Ko won the Women’s British Open in 2024.
Golf is very important in New Zealand. There are nearly 400 courses for a population of five-million people. Likely, it will become much more popular for Kiwis with Ryan showing off the Claret Jug in his native country for a year before returning it for the 2027 championship at St. Andrews, the home of golf.
With an opportunity to visit New Zealand years ago, I was fascinated by Kiwi culture and the natives’ great love of the outdoors. While I did not play golf there, I did visit courses in Auckland, Christchurch, and Queenstown.
I once had a fishing outing while spending a long weekend in Queenstown, a popular tourist destination, that is among the most memorable vignettes in a lifetime of travel. With friends, we were able to book a guide and a charter boat and went out on the lake on a windy day, which was not the best for fishing. However, we were able to catch three nicesized trout.
A friend at the hotel where we were staying, aware of our plans, provided a most valuable tip. He said that if we caught fish, we could arrange for the hotel to cook them for us. The front desk personnel introduced us to the chef, who confirmed, yes, that would be possible.
The chef prepared our lunch on a warm, sunny, beautiful afternoon, delivering the best meal I had on the three-week trip. New Zealanders are “real” people.
With that in mind, it should not come as a surprise that the latest Open champion is a guy who booked a coach ticket, ordered a beer from the flight attendant, and placed the claret jug in an overhead bin.
My guess is he will extend some benevolence in his community with the five-and-a-half-million New Zealand dollars he received for winning golf’s oldest championship. unpretentious, having boyish fun while raising money for charity. He is the antithesis of his father, who was a very slow and deliberate rugby icon, while Ryan hits the ball and bolts down the fairway as if he’s running late for supper.”
Warren notes that New Zealand has more Open champions per capita than any place in the world: Bob Charles won the British title in 1963 at Royal Lytham and St. Annes, Michael Campbell won the U.S. Open in 2005, and Lydia Ko won the Women’s British Open in 2024.
Golf is very important in New Zealand. There are nearly 400 courses for a population of five-million people. Likely, it will become much more popular for Kiwis with Ryan showing off the Claret Jug in his native country for a year before returning it for the 2027 championship at St. Andrews, the home of golf.
With an opportunity to visit New Zealand years ago, I was fascinated by Kiwi culture and the natives’ great love of the outdoors. While I did not play golf there, I did visit courses in Auckland, Christchurch, and Queenstown.
I once had a fishing outing while spending a long weekend in Queenstown, a popular tourist destination, that is among the most memorable vignettes in a lifetime of travel. With friends, we were able to book a guide and a charter boat and went out on the lake on a windy day, which was not the best for fishing. However, we were able to catch three nice-sized trout.
A friend at the hotel where we were staying, aware of our plans, provided a most valuable tip. He said that if we caught fish, we could arrange for the hotel to cook them for us. The front desk personnel introduced us to the chef, who confirmed, yes, that would be possible.
The chef prepared our lunch on a warm, sunny, beautiful afternoon, delivering the best meal I had on the three-week trip. New Zealanders are “real” people.
With that in mind, it should not come as a surprise that the latest Open champion is a guy who booked a coach ticket, ordered a beer from the flight attendant, and placed the claret jug in an overhead bin.
My guess is he will extend some benevolence in his community with the fiveand- a-half-million New Zealand dollars he received for winning golf’s oldest championship.